Western World Costume. Carolyn G. Bradley

      The Roman Republic lasted for centuries and from her own highly developed civilization, she left us important legacies. Her engineering accomplishments have been handed down to us in magnificent roads and aqueducts; the vault and dome in architecture; and her contribution in government, law, language, and customs is inestimable. We still observe laws that have come to us from Roman jurisprudence.

      The public baths, where much time was spent by Roman men, who followed a standard of perfect grooming, were magnificent and an important feature of every great city. They were decorated in marble and mosaic, as were all other public buildings.

      The toga was the national costume for men. Cloth was made to the size necessary for the garment, which eliminated cutting. Some garments were designed especially as offerings to the gods. It is very difficult to distinguish the costume of the Roman from that of the Greek during the early Republican Period. The typical Roman dress had the armhole at the side whereas the Grecian costume had the opening along the upper edge of the fabric. In general the classical ideal in costume was to enhance the body. Gradually European and Oriental influence entered into the costume and the classic Roman dress became extinct.

      The fine sense of perfect equilibrium, which characterized the Grecian people was not found in the Romans. The latter affected pomp and ostentation in everything, causing certain edicts to be made in regard to clothes. A sumptuary law, passed by the Roman Senate about the beginning of the Christian Era, prohibited the use of silk for a man’s garment because it was considered material appropriate only for a woman. Emperor Aurelian forbade men to wear red, yellow, green, or white shoes, these colors being reserved for women.

      Various costumes and accessories have often developed to detract from a ruler’s disfigurement. The men usually wore the hair long, but it is said that Julius Caesar adopted the wearing of the laurel wreath to conceal his baldness. The portraits in sculpture of the rulers of this time give us an excellent idea of the costume, since they portray the rulers as men and not as gods as had been done in previous periods. The sculptured portrait of the Roman woman is said to be made with adjustable wigs in order that the hairdress could be kept in fashion.

      In the early years of the Republic, the Roman woman lived a dependent existence, with no legal status and no right to citizenship; she could neither act as a witness nor make a contract. She was not permitted to ride in a carriage within a limit of one mile from Rome, except to go to certain festivals. The sumptuary law of 215 B.C., established by Numa, forbidding a woman the use of more than one ounce of gold, brought so much protest from the Roman women that they formed a system of picketing the houses of leading citizens who supported the law. This aggressive act on the part of the women helped to bring more independence for them in the later years of Roman rule. In the time of the Republic the Roman was required to marry and after the marriage, lived in the house of his parents. Later, in the Empire Period there was no pride in having a family; family cares were regarded as an interference to the enjoyment of life; marriage was put aside. Since the population had decreased greatly because of the wars, Julius Caesar offered rewards of land to the fathers of large families. Augustus extended special privileges to a woman with three children; and four children released a freedwoman from bondage. In the earlier years of the Empire a woman had social freedom; she moved freely in the public thoroughfares with unveiled face, studied literature and philosophy, was permitted to defend her own case in court. She could be divorced by her husband, although she could not divorce him. She dined with her husband and his friends. When wealth and luxury came to Rome, the father felt it his duty to leave a dowry to his daughter which was sufficient to support her and made her more independent. Marriage became a contract that existed as long as both parties agreed.

      While a woman took care of household duties, including the drawing and carrying of water, the preparation of food, directing the slave women in spinning and weaving, as well as the preliminary steps in the preparation of the thread, such as cleaning and spinning, the master of the house, or a trusted person of the household, attended to the marketing and took care of external transactions.

      Gainful occupations of men included the cultivation of grain, brewing, woodworking, pottery making, quarrying, mining, and gold and silver smithing. Because of the expansion of Rome over the Mediterranean area, seafaring was also an important activity.

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